FILE – In this Feb. 18, 2016, file photo, Julie Zhuo, product design director at Facebook, demonstrates the new emoji icons. With more than 270 billion text messages sent a day, those tiny pictures and symbols have exploded beyond their initial fan base of 14-year-old girls. Now businesses, charities and events are scrambling to come up with their own. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

California does not need
a tax on text messages

Re: “State to tax text messaging? OMG!” (Page A1, Dec. 12):

I am opposed to the proposed text tax, to be voted on in early January by the California Public Utilities Commission, which would appear at the bottom of customer phone bills and cost average Californians approximately $45 million a year.

Most smartphone owners use text messaging many times per day. Texting has fundamentally changed how people communicate and process information in their daily lives. Text messages are a very important form of communication for everyone and must not have additional taxes making it more expensive to use.

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